You Can Never Leave The Past Behind You
by busigt-81
Summary: It was Monday morning and Anthony DiNozzo was getting ready to go to work. It could have been any given Monday morning but this morning was one morning that Anthony DiNozzo was nervous to go to work.
1. Chapter 1

AN: First I just want to say: I don't own any of the charachters or the show.

So here comes the first chapter of my new story, please tell me what you think.

**You Can Never Leave The Past Behind You**

Chapter 1

It was Monday morning and Anthony DiNozzo was getting ready to go to work. It could have been any given Monday morning but this morning was one morning that Anthony DiNozzo was nervous to go to work.

He took a long look at the box standing on a chair in his bedroom before he walked out of his apartment and drove to work.

As he drove his mind was still on the box and he had mixed feelings about that box. On one hand he wanted to look thru it and remember the good memories with that old man once again but then on the other hand he didn't want to remember the times that had driven him to the old man's footstep.

Tony parked the car in his usual spot, took a last look at himself in the review mirror and studied the reflection.

He looked alright, a little tired maybe but that could be brushed off easily, but most importantly he didn't look like a big part of his life had been buried and that was a victory in itself.

Tony stepped into the elevator, readied himself for a long and hard week. He knew that this was going to be one of the hardest and longest weeks in his life because he knew that Gibbs would ride him hard for what he had done and in one way he could understand why his boss would be so upset with him.

Going behind his boss back, asking the Director for a few days off instead of going to Gibbs was a big mistake. But he had to take those days off, without any questions because he couldn't tell Gibbs or anyone why.

So he had gone to Director Shepard, who had approved his request without any questions, knowing very well about the consequences.

Tony walked into the bullpen with a carefree smile, even if he knew that he would pay for his decision but he felt that he was home again.

"Hey Probie!" He said in a high voice, almost scaring McGee out of his chair.

"Tony!" Ziva said. "I'm glad you are back."

"Where have you been?" McGee asked looking at Tony.

"Aw, it warms my heart to know that you two missed me."

"We didn't but Gibbs has been walking around like he did bite in the sour grape or something." Ziva said with a grimace.

"Apple, Ziva." McGee said but he was agreeing with Ziva. "So where were you?"

Tony walked towards his desk as he brushed off McGee's question and talked around it. He was just about to say something more when Gibbs walked into the bullpen. McGee and Ziva fell quiet, trying to shrink when their boss cast them each a hard look.

Tony's stomach dropped when those hard blue eyes stared at him, seeing right thru him and stripping all of his defences. The younger agent couldn't help but swallowing hard.

"Hi boss." Tony stuttered under Gibbs stare, his boss was really mad at him.

Gibbs just stared at him for a couple of seconds longer before turning away from him and went to his own desk. He sat down and started to work.

Tony sat down behind his own desk, fired up his computer and then he checked his e-mails.

The bullpen was quiet and when the phone on Gibbs desk started to ring it made everyone, except Gibbs, jump.

The older NCIS-agent answered it, after a few minutes he hung up, stood and started to gather his things.

"We have a case." He said and threw the keys to the NCIS-truck to Ziva. "McGee, you are with me. Ziva and DiNozzo take the truck, Ziva you drive." And with that the team was on the move.

* * *

Timothy McGee actually felt sorry for Tony, okay it was wrong of him going behind Gibbs back and ask the Director for two days off. But knowing Tony, the man had probably a good cause because he if anyone knew how Gibbs would react.

McGee even envied how Tony handled their boss comments and worked even harder without any whining. He sighed as he made his way towards the changing room with a pair of shoes to Tony.

The team had been sent out to a car accident, the car had held two marines which were dead now. It had been raining the whole weekend so the car had skidded of the road into a ravine and they found out that it had been an accident.

But before that Gibbs had sent down Tony to take pictures and do sketches, on his way down the senior field agent had slipped and tumbled down into a puddle of mud. But it hadn't stopped Tony from doing his job, he had taken the pictures and done the sketches, soaking wet and then he had returned the camera and sketchbook to Gibbs without any comment.

After that they had been a the accident sight for almost two and a half hours, when they came back Ducky had met them and when he saw Tony in his soaked state, he had ordered the young man into the showers immediately.

Then the old M.D. had taken Gibbs by the arm and walked into the elevator. McGee caught a little of Ducky's upset voice as the old man spoke to Gibbs.

"For heavens sake…. His lips were blue…" then the elevator doors closed, McGee looked at Ziva, who shrugged her shoulders and then walked towards the stairs, Tony was already gone.

So McGee stepped into the changing room, with a pair of shoes in his hands and looked for his team mate. He found the other agent sitting on a bench, his feet on it in front of him.

Tony had different clothes on, his hair still wet but what caught McGee's eyes was Tony's right ankle. It was black and blue, a bit swollen and it seemed rather painful.

McGee sat down in front of Tony but close enough so he could take a look at the foot.

"That looks like it hurts."

"It looks a lot worse than it is." Tony said avoiding looking McGee in the eye.

"Sure." McGee sounded unconvinced. "What happened?"

"Oh, I twisted it this weekend and you probably noticed my fall, so I twisted it again."

"Bummer." McGee said looking up at Tony. "If you want, I can help you wrap it."

Tony looked at him, he was embarrassed but glad that McGee offered to help him; McGee mistook his silence for disbelief so he said:

"I have done it a lot." He started to explain. "You see, my brother played soccer and he often sprained his ankles. I learned to wrap them for him and became rather good at it."

"Take it easy, Probie. I trust you." Tony said as he handed McGee the bandage, then he laid back and closed his eyes as the other agent started to wrap his ankle.

McGee looked at the other mans face as he started to wrap the injured foot, searching for signs of discomfort or pain but he only saw relaxed and that Tony looked a little tired.

"So, does that feel alright?" He asked when he was done.

Tony sat up, swung his long legs to the side of the bench and stood carefully, testing the injured ankle.

"Good work, Probie." Tony said as he carefully walked around.

McGee felt surprised when the older agent almost didn't limp at all even if that foot must have hurt like hell.

"Thanks, Tim." Tony said honestly and he looked his co-worker in the eye. "But we don't need to tell Gibbs about this, right…"

McGee met Tony's clear green eyes and after a few seconds he nodded. Tony nodded back and smiled and they made their way up to the others.

As they walked into the bullpen, Gibbs looked up at the two agents and he felt relief when he saw that Tony seemed alright. The younger agent met his eye and quickly looked away and went to his desk.

Gibbs felt a little guilty for letting Tony work the accident scene in wet clothes and in this chilly weather. But he was still angry at him for going behind his back and to the Director.

The older NCIS-agent teared his eyes from the younger agent and work with the reports from the car accident.

The rest of the day went by quickly and uneventful, Gibbs let them go home in reasonably hours but he still hadn't warmed up to his senior field agent.

Tony waved at McGee and Ziva as he got into his car and drove home. He parked his car in his spot and when he got of the car his ankle gave out a little, protesting against the recent abuse. But Tony ignored the pain and made his way slowly and carefully to his apartment.

The first thing he did when he came into his apartment was going into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of beer and an icepack to his foot.

Then he limped to his couch, sat down, placed his injured foot on the coffe table and laid the icepack on it. Then he turned on the TV and he leaned back, sipping on his beer.

It had been bad today, he thought. He had know that it would be but Gibbs cold stare, vicious comments and ignoring him were hard for him to take. He was probably a little more sensitive after the weekend's events.

Tony looked to his left, seeing into his bedroom and saw the box, which were still standing on the chair. He took a deep swing of the beer as he stared at the box.

That and memories were the only things he had left of Luigi now when the old man had died.

Tony tared his eyes from it and watched the television but he wasn't seeing the program on it. For his inner eyes he saw a younger version of himself, standing on the doorstep to Luigi's house and saying:

"Mr Luigi, I know that you knew my mother, she trusted you, and I need your help."

Tony shook his head a little, Luigi had looked at him, the scrawny little kid he had been back then and then let him in.

That had been the beginning of his new life.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thank you all for your reviews, I'm glad that you like and I hope that you won't be disappointed by chapter 2.

Chapter 2

The next morning Tony woke up on the couch with the TV still on and he looked at the clock almost panicked. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he hadn't overslept, so he stood up carefully and tested his hurt ankle. It hurt a little but it held and he could handle the pain.

Tony stretched his long and lean body, feeling a bit sore but it was understandable due to what he had been thru this weekend and he thought back.

When he had stepped into the bar, he was glad to see that almost nothing had changed after all these years.

Here he and Luigi had spent many hours and late nights studying and working on the plan that would be his future.

Tony was sitting at one of the tables, drinking and remembering those times when Frankie had walked thru the door. At first he had been really shocked and he froze in his seat, many bad memories assaulted him.

Frankie had looked the same, maybe he had a little more grey in his hair but he was still big, around six feet, burly built and looked scary.

When Frankie sat down at the bar Tony decided that it was probably best if he left before the big man spotted him, so he laid money on the table and walked to the door.

At the same time Frankie moved away from the bar and their eyes met, for a second Tony hoped that he wouldn't recognized him but seeing into the other mans brown eyes he knew that it was too late.

Frankie grabbed Tony's left underarm in an iron hard grip and then spoke in a voice that sent shivers down his spine.

"So you aren't dead after all, boy."

Tony just looked at him, feeling like a scared child all over again, hearing screams and feeling hits over his body once again but the grip around his arm hardened and he returned back to reality.

He looked into those hateful brown eyes and he remembered that he wasn't that scrawny little kid anymore.

"Let me go." Tony said in a low and dangerous tone.

"Don't you dare talk back to me, boy." Frankie said squeezing the younger man's arm harder.

Tony tried to yank his arm out of Frankie's grip but knew that it was useless. He kept his eyes on him and he saw a flicker of something, then he blocked a punch that was thrown towards his face and punched back, hitting the other man in the face.

The two men fought each other for around ten minutes but giving as good as they got then Tony got in a good hit that sent Frankie flying backwards and landing in a boneless heap on the floor.

For a few minutes, Tony stood there panting and staring at the other man before turning around and walked away. At his hotel he grabbed a shower, still not thinking straight, and then he collapsed into the bed.

Even now, in his car on his way to work and several miles away, the memories of Frankie sent shivers down his spine.

But, he thought as he stepped out of the elevator and into the bullpen, he didn't have to worry because he was safe here and he had bigger trouble in front of him. Like figuring out how to get Gibbs to forgive him.

* * *

McGee looked up as the elevator doors opened and Tony stepped out of it. He looked closely to see if the other agent limped but he couldn't see anything like that.

"Good morning, Probie." Tony said with a smile.

"Morning, Tony. Everything alright?" McGee asked still a bit worried about his friend.

"Yeah, everything is alright." Tony said as he walked to his desk. "Have you seen the boss yet?"

"Yes, he went up to the Director."

"Oh, that's not good. He is always like _that_ after those meetings."

"Like what, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked walking into the bullpen, stopped in front of Tony and looked at him with cold eyes.

"Like your usual happy and smiling you?" Tony said stuttering, waiting for the head slap.

But Gibbs only gave him an ice cold stare that made the younger agent shiver, and then he sat down at his desk and turned his attention to his computer.

When Gibbs had come to work this morning he still felt a bit guilty over having treated Tony so bad yesterday and he had decided to cut Tony some slack. But after his meeting with Director Shepard, cutting Tony slack wasn't on his timetable.

He wasn't really angry at Tony now, it wasn't really his fault that the Director was a bitch and had used that Tony had gone to her for some free time in their argument. For that he unconsciously blamed Tony.

* * *

The day went by uneventful for the team, but not for Tony. Even if they had no cases Gibbs found things for Tony to do.

McGee and Ziva looked at their senior field agent with sympathy when for the fifth time Gibbs sent him down to the archive to find some old case files.

When he come back, Tony handed them over to Gibbs and the old man just looked at them, like he had done the four times before and then shook his head.

"I don't need this right now, take them back."

McGee looked up from his desk when he heard those words, he saw Tony clenched his fists before taking the papers and went back to the archive. He couldn't understand how Tony could stand this treatment. He turned back to his computer, but after ten minutes he headed for the bathroom.

McGee opened the door slowly because he was thinking about what he would eat for dinner but he stopped in his tracks when he saw Tony standing over zinc washing his hands.

The other man had rolled up his sleeves as he washed his hands and McGee saw a big black and blue bruise on Tony's left underarm.

McGee moved a little closer so he could take closer look but he stumbled, knocking over a plant that stood on the floor, making Tony look up and when he saw his co-worker he quickly rolled down his sleeves and hiding his bruises.

"You alright, Probie?" He asked as he helped McGee.

"Yeah, thanks." McGee stuttered, swearing inside for his clumsiness. "How is your ankle?"

"Better." Tony said brushing off McGee's concern.

The other NCIS-agent nodded and watched as Tony walked towards his desk and he thought he could see the senior field agent limping a little.

Tim sighed to himself as he went into the bathroom to do his business but he was thinking hard. The bruise on Tony's arm had looked like a print from someone grabbing him and holding him hard.

So Tony had taken two days, giving him four day weekend, he had gone to the Director instead of Gibbs. Then he had come back with a sprained ankle, a big bruise that covered almost his whole underarm and he didn't speak at all about his weekend.

McGee shook his head; something was definitely going on with Tony. But what?

* * *

Tony was sitting at his desk, looking like he was working but in reality he was thinking hard about his meeting with Probie in the bathroom.

Had Tim seen his bruised arm? He hoped not because he didn't want to explain it but he was almost certain that McGee had seen something. He leaned back in his chair, looking at the clock and he hoped that Gibbs would let them go home soon.

Today had been a lot worse than yesterday; Gibbs had sent him down to the creepy archive at least five times to get useless files and then sent him back with them without looking at them. His ankel was starting to hurt because of all the walking back and forth and he was beginning to get a headache.

* * *

Sitting at his desk Gibbs studied Tony discreetly; his temper had cooled off now after a long day. He knew that he had been totally awful to his senior field agent today.

He couldn't miss the looks Ziva and McGee sent: full off sympathy to Tony and looks with a little distain for himself. But they should know by this time that his second B was for bastard.

"What a crappy excuse." A little voice in his head said and he felt guilty.

As he looked at Tony, he saw that the younger man looked tired and that he was rubbing his temples discreetly. Gibbs looked at his clock; it was time for his team to go home.

"Time to go home people." Gibbs said looking at Tony and decided that he needed to say something to his leading agent. "Tony, could you stay for a minute?" He ignored McGee and Ziva's looks that they sent Tony's way.

Tony just gave him a curt nod, grabbed his things and walked up to his desk.

"Yeah, boss?"

Gibbs opened his mouth to say that he had been a bastard to him today but he closed it shut when he saw the Director walking into the bullpen.

"Jethro." She said nodding to him before she turned to Tony. "Nice to see you, Tony."

"You to…" Tony said a little surprised, the Director usually ignored him.

Gibbs anger came back in full force as the Director play chummy with Tony.

"Did you want something?" He asked her in a hard voice.

"No, Jethro." She said with a hint of a smile. "I just wanted to check up on you." Then she walked away.

"Uhm, boss?" Tony said in a low voice.

"You can go." Was all Gibbs said as he turned back to his computer and totally ignoring the young agent in front of him.

Tony stood still for a second before he walked away, thoughts running thru his head. What the hell did just happen?

When Gibbs had called him over, he was sure that they would talk thru this thing but when the Director came by Gibbs turned evil again.

* * *

Finally home, he thought as he stepped into his apartment and as he made his way towards the bathroom he stripped out of his clothes.

Tony sighed out loud when he turned on the shower and the hot water fell over his body making him forget his troubles.

But they came back when he stepped out of the shower when the pain from his ankle starting to get worse. He rewrapped it and limped his way into his bedroom, he sat down on his bed, looked up and saw the box. Tony reached for it, lifted it over to the bed and took off the top then he looked down into it.

It was filled with papers and pictures; he reached down and got his SAT:s score, then he saw a picture of him and Luigi.

A few tears escaped down his cheek when he looked at one with him and Luigi at the bar, surrounded by books.

Tony brushed the tears away when he saw another paper and he took it out with shaky hands.

How did Luigi get this? He asked himself as he stared at his _real_ birth certificate. He looked at it for a long time, not thinking at all. He was a bit shocked at seeing it and suddenly he didn't want to see it at all.

He gathered the things and stuffed them back into the box, he laid it back on the chair then he lay down and tried to fall asleep.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Thank you all for the reviews! They reallt make my day. So here comes a short chapter I'll try do write longer next time!

Chapter 3

The alarm sounded and Tony looked at the clock beside his bed, it was time to get up and get ready for work. He sighed to himself as he stood up and stretched carefully, he hadn't got much sleep due to all the thoughts that were running thru his head.

As he grabbed some clothes, he knocked over the box and spilled out is contents all over the floor. For a second he just stood looking at the mess before he shuffled everything into the box again but he couldn't find the top.

Getting down on his knees he found it under the bed but he couldn't reach it so he left it there and started to get ready for work.

* * *

Gibbs was behind his desk when Tony and McGee came out of the elevator and into the bullpen.

"Good morning, Gibbs." McGee said in a low voice as he avoided looking into his eyes.

"Morning, boss." Tony said as he made his way to his desk.

Gibbs nodded to them and turned back to his computer, it didn't take long until Ziva arrived into the bullpen.

When his whole team were gathered, Gibbs got up and walked up to the Directors office because she had insisted that he should attend a meeting with her. The team knew about it and they looked after him as he made his way up the stairs.

"You look tired, Tony." Ziva said getting up and walked over to the other agent's desk. "You had company?"

"Are you jealous if I did?" Tony asked leaning forward with a smile.

"No for heavens sake!"

"I think you are! What do you think, Probie?"

McGee looked up from his computer, when Tony said his nickname to look at the other two agents.

"I'm with Ziva, you look a little tired." McGee said, getting a big smile from Ziva and a grimace from Tony as he said so.

"I told you so!" Ziva said sounding smug. "Can this maybe have something to do with what you did this weekend?"

"Curiosity doesn't suit you, Zee-vah." Tony said as he ignored her question.

Ziva tried to pressure him some more but after a while she gave up, grunting something he couldn't hear but as she sat down she gave him a hard glare.

Tony just smiled big at her, turning back to his computer and started to work with looking thru old paperwork. But he soon grew tired and restless, his mind on other things and unconsciously he started making a few paper balls.

When he looked down at the desk he saw that he had made a dozen so he picked one up and threw it at Ziva, who caught it one handed.

She opened her mouth to say something but Tony held up a finger to his mouth and then pointed at McGee with mischief shining in his eyes and Ziva nodded.

They both threw their ball at McGee and hit him in the face.

"Such a good hit!" Tony yelled

"Yeah, give me four for that one!" Ziva smiled big.

"It's five, give me five, Ziva." Tony said shaking his head.

Then it broke out a small paper ball war between the three agents and they all laughed at eachother. They threw more paper balls when suddenly Gibbs stepped into the bullpen and was hit by three paper balls.

Gibbs facial expression went from angry to murderous in a blink of an eye and his agents fell silent and they all looked at him with fear in their eyes. This was bad.

"You have ten minutes to change and meet me in the gym!" With that he turned on his heel and strode angrily away.

Tony, Ziva and McGee just looked at each other for a second before they all moved towards the elevator.

Eight minutes later they stood in the gym, clothes changed and waited for Gibbs. McGee looked at Tony from the corner of his eye, he had tried to catch a glimpse of the other man's bruises but the senior field agent had changed so fast that he saw nothing.

Gibbs came into the gym, placed himself in front of his agents and he still looked pretty angry.

"Self defence training against each other." He said sounding cold.

"I'll take Probie. " Tony said taking a step forward but he knew that Gibbs wouldn't allow it.

"Ziva! You and McGee close combat and neither of you hold back! Tony you are with me!"

Gibbs moved towards the mats and for a second Tony considered to run away but he knew that he couldn't do that so he hung his head and followed his boss.

Gibbs stopped, turned around facing Tony and first the two men just looked at each other then the older man rushed towards the younger man who dodged but Gibbs caught Tony's long-sleeved shirt.

The two men grabbed and threw eachother around on the hard mat for a few minutes, then Gibbs got a good hold on Tony's right arm pinning the young man face down on the mat.

"So, how long are you going to be pissed at me?" Tony asked in a strained voice, his body was still sore from his fight with Frankie.

"As long as I want." Gibbs said, knowing that he sounded childish and then he was suddenly flipped by Tony so they changed position. "Why didn't you come to me?"

Gibbs tried to wriggle free but the younger man held him down effectively.

"I just need those days without any questions." Tony said and at the same time Gibbs grabbed his injured ankle and the pain made him lose his grip a little but enough for the older man to wriggle free and sent the younger man flying to his left.

Tony winced as his bruised left arm hit the hard mat but he clenched his teeth shut and the two men fought for control again, none of them were giving in easily.

Then Gibbs got an advantage, pinning Tony with his back down on to the mat and the older man held him by the wrists, somehow barely missing the bruised area, which he couldn't see.

Both men were breathing hard and were looking each other in the eyes.

"Why?" Gibbs asked.

"Because…" Tony said before looking away. "It was personal."

Gibbs stared at him, his face emotionless before he pushed himself to standing and he looked at Tony one last time, Tony looked away, before saying:

"That's enough; see you in the bullpen in 15 minutes!" With that he walked away.

Tony stayed, lying completely still for a minute or so trying to get control over his breathing. He heard Ziva and McGee making their way hurriedly towards the changing room.

He sighed as he slowly got up, his body was aching now and he made his way to the lockers.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Thansk so much for all the reviews! This chapter may contain some errors (grammar and spelling) due to the fact that I'm writing it at four in the morning. so I hope that you like it anyway!

Chapter 4

The team met in the bullpen almost exactly 15 minutes later after Gibbs stopped the self-defence training, then he strode into the bullpen giving them all a glare before gruffly saying:

"Back to work."

The bullpen lapsed into silence as they all sat at their desks and worked.

Gibbs tried to concentrate on the computer screen in front of him but his eyes wandered to the agent sitting across him.

He knew that he was really a bastard and that he had acted very wrong, again, today but he couldn't help it. As he studied Tony secretly, he asked himself why.

Why was he so angry at Tony? Was it because the younger man had gone behind his back or was it because he hadn't wanted to tell him why he needed to be off work.

The words that Tony had said to him earlier in the gym had made an impact on him.

"It was personal" echoed thru his mind, reminding him that Tony probably had many secrets just like himself.

Gibbs tared his eyes from his senior field agent and took a look at his other team members.

Ziva was working at her desk, concentrating on the screen in front of her.

McGee was also working on his computer but he would stop from time to time and his eyes would wander to Tony.

Gibbs frowned a little because he thought he could see worry in the other mans eyes. Why would McGee be worried about Tony?

He looked at Tony not seeing anything out of the normal and then he looked at McGee again, he saw the worry still in the younger man's eyes. Did he know something about Tony that he didn't? Gibbs thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his phone.

"Gibbs."

"Jethro." It was the Director. "Agent Hodgkins need some help to pick up a suspect and I volunteered you and your team."

"Are you serious, Jen?" Gibbs asked, agent Hodgkins and his team were twice as many as his own team but they always needed assistance. If you asked Gibbs they were quite incompetent.

"Yes, I'm." The Director said and gave Gibbs the address before she hung up.

"Tony and McGee! Hodgkins needs help. Get their suspect here!"

Tony and McGee moved, Tony grabbed the piece of paper that held the address and they made their way towards the elevator.

* * *

"Are you sure that you are alright?" McGee glanced over at Tony who was driving the car.

"I told you, Probie. I'm fine." Tony answered back with a sigh.

They were on their way back to the NCIS-building with the suspect handcuffed and sporting a black eye in the backseat.

When Tony and McGee had arrived at the suspect's house, he had not wanted to open the door and as Tony made his way to back he had tried to run. But when he saw the other agent he had jumped him instead.

McGee heard the shuffle and ran to the back, seeing Tony and the suspect fighting on the ground and before he could act Tony got the upper hand and cuffed the suspect. Then he hauled him up, Tony was breathing hard but seemed alright so they took him to the car and drove towards NCIS.

They stepped out of the car inside the parking garage at NCIS; Tony opened the backdoor and hauled the suspect out. The three men made their way towards the elevator and got into it.

"I'll take him to interrogation and you go and get Hodgkins." Tony said to McGee as they steeped out of the elevator.

McGee nodded, moved into the bullpen to look for Hodgkins while Tony led the suspect to interrogation.

"Sit down." Tony said to the suspect as they came into the room. Then he leaned against the wall not wanting to leave the suspect alone.

A few minutes later the door opened and two agents from Hodgkin's team came inside.

"Hi Tony." John Wells greeted him and mentioned for him to follow him outside. "Thanks for your help."

"Hi John." Tony followed him out and they stood talking to each other for a while when suddenly they heard strange noises from the interrogation room, they opened the door and stepped inside.

Somehow the suspect had convinced the other agent from Hodgkin's team to take the handcuffs off him and then he had jumped him.

"Get security!" Tony yelled to John who ran away to do as he said while Tony stepped inside. The suspect was a big man and when he heard Tony's voice he turned around and yelled:

"It's your fault!" The he rushed Tony and before the agent could do anything, the suspect kicked out at his feet making the agent go down.

Tony tried to kick back but the man was all over him, kicking and hitting him in a frenzy but then Tony got in a good kick that sent him flying a few meters.

Tony tried to get to his feet but could barley stand, he used the wall as support. When he looked up he saw that the suspect was already on his feet and was moving towards him again.

Tony pushed himself from the wall and just as the man rushed him again he got in a nice hit, but it only slowed the man down a little.

They were soon back on the floor, Tony under the suspect and they were fighting for control. Suddenly the man was hauled back and when Tony looked up he saw the suspect being held down by three security guards. John, Hodgkins and McGee were in the doorway and they made their way into the room. When McGee saw his friend on the floor, he went immediately to his friend's side.

"Are you alright?" McGee helped Tony to sit up with his back against the wall.

"I'm… Fine.." Tony was out of breath and bleeding from two cuts, one on his lip and one just above his eyebrow.

"I don't believe you." McGee said as he handed Tony a tissue to hold to his lip while McGee held one to the cut on his eyebrow.

Hodgkins went to the agent from his team that was lying unconscious on the floor; the guards hauled the suspect out of the room and to the holding cells. John followed his team leader and the other agent started to wake up.

"John, we have to take him to the ER." Hodgkins said and he walked over to Tony and McGee. "How are you Tony?" He asked concerned, he knew that Gibbs would rip him a new one for letting one of his agents get hurt.

"I'm okay, Hodgkins." Tony said his breathing had calmed down and was almost back to normal.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry. Take care of your people."

Hodgkins nodded; felt a bit relived and then helped John to get the other agent out of the room.

McGee looked at the three agents as they made their way out and then he turned to Tony who was also looking at the three men but when he felt McGee's eyes on him he turned to face the other agent.

"What?" Tony asked.

"You are not fine." McGee stated. "Can you even stand?"

"If I can stand?" Tony muttered as he slowly got up, using the wall behind him as support. "Of course I can stand."

He could stand but as he tried to walk his already injured ankle gave out and he would have fallen if McGee hadn't caught him.

"He kicked at my feet and I guess he hit my ankle." Tony said with gritted teeth.

"What's going on?" Ziva asked as she stepped into the room.

"The new idiot on Hodgkin's team took off the handcuffs and the suspect went berserk." McGee said sounding angry.

"Are you alright, Tony?" Ziva asked as she got a good look at Tony.

Tony opened his mouth to say that he was fine and then say something funny to take their minds of him but McGee beat him to it.

"No, he's not fine. Where is Gibbs?"

"He's with the Director." She saw McGee grab Tony's left arm and slide under it and she did the same when she saw that McGee needed some help.

"I'm fine." Tony said. "What are you two doing?"

"We are taking you to Ducky." McGee said.

He and Ziva ignored Tony's protests as they made their way to and into the elevator.

Tony felt embarrassed at the attention but at the same time he was glad for his friends help and that they seemed to care.

"Ducky!" McGee called as they stepped out of the elevator and into the autopsy.

They helped Tony over to an autopsy table and helped him so he was sitting on it, at the same time Ducky walked up to them.

"Oh my." Ducky said as McGee told him the story of what had happened. He looked at Tony's bleeding eyebrow first. "I don't think that you need any stitches but I'll put on some butterfly tape on it. Let's take a look at your foot."

Tony reached down to take off his shoe but at he bent down sharp pain radiated from his ribcage making him sit up straight and suck in his breath.

"I'll do it for you." Ziva said when she saw the pain in Tony's face; she became more worried when Tony didn't say some smart ass comment.

"After the ankle we'll take a look at your ribs also." Ducky said as he grabbed a chair, sat down and started to examine the injured ankle carefully. It was still black and blue, but more swollen. "I don't think it's broken but we need to do an x-ray. Now take off your shirt so we can check on your ribs."

"That's not really necessary, Ducky." Tony said not wanting them to see his bruises from the fight with Frankie. "I'm fine, just a little sore but fine."

Ducky studied the young man in front of him, he could see that Tony was in pain and he knew that the younger man was trying to hide something from them.

"Sorry Anthony but I need to check it. If you don't allow me to do it I'll tell Gibbs about it and he will take you to the ER."

Tony looked Ducky in the eye, seeing that the old man was serious, so he sighed and hung his head low before he began to remove his shirt.

"My dear boy." Ducky said when he saw the bruises that were over Tony's chest and left arm.

Ziva and McGee drew sharp breaths when they saw the bruises that were covering their friends back.

"These are a few days old." Ducky said as he carefully prodded Tony's abdomen and ribs.

"Yeah." Was all Tony said as he kept his eyes on the floor not looking at his friends.

"What happened?" McGee asked.

Tony just looked at him shortly but kept his mouth closed.

"I need to do an x-ray off your chest also." Ducky said after he had examined Tony.

Ziva and McGee helped Tony to the x-ray room and stepped outside as Ducky began to operate the machine.

"Did you see his arm?" McGee asked out loud. "It looked like…"

"Like a handprint." Ziva said and shook her head. "Why didn't he tell us about it?"

"About what, Ziva?" Gibbs asked his voice making both his agents jump and spin around.

"That…" Ziva and McGee said at the same time but were interrupted by Ducky coming out of the room.

"You two help Anthony back to the table while I talk to Jethro." Ducky said and the two agents gladly did as he said.

Gibbs caught a glimpse of Tony, now with a button shirt on, before Ziva and McGee helped him and Ducky took Gibbs inside another room.

"What's up, Ducky?" Gibbs asked the old ME. "Hodgkins just told me that the suspect went berserk, knocking out his newbie and got in a few hits on Tony as well. Is he alright?"

"We just x-rayed his ankle and chest but I believe there is something else going on with our Anthony." Ducky said and they walked to the others while he told Gibbs about the other bruises on Tony's body.

"Did he say what had happen?" Gibbs asked before they stepped inside to the others.

"No, he didn't. But Jethro his left arm's bruise is shaped like a hand showing that someone grabbed him hard."

They stepped into the big room and walked over to the other NCIS agents. McGee and Ziva was looking down at the floor, Gibbs just cast them a look before following Ducky to the x-ray showing wall.

"I can't see any breaks." Ducky said as he looked at the x-rays. "But I'll wrap your ankle, you need to stay off it, keep it iced and high when you are still."

"Thanks, Ducky." Tony said and made a move to get off the table but was stopped by Gibbs.

"Where do you think you are going?" Gibbs asked but he didn't give Tony a chance to answer. "What happen to you?"

"Nothing." Tony said in a low voice.

"Nothing my ass!" Gibbs said loudly.

"Jethro." Ducky said. "Calm down."

Gibbs took a few deep breaths, he was really angry at the situation. He was furious at Hodgkins for letting Tony get hurt, angry at Tony for not telling him about what's going on with him and angry at himself for not noticing that Tony was hurt from the beginning.

When he looked into Tony's clear green eyes, he noticed that he was also very worried about the younger man. He looked over to McGee and Ziva and he saw the worry in their eyes also.

He turned back to Tony.

"You are going home with me, McGee will get some things from your apartment and Ziva will help us down to the car." Gibbs silenced Tony with a cold look. "Then we will talk about this."

* * *

McGee opened the door to Tony's apartment and stepped inside. He had been here a few times before and he liked the apartment.

He walked into the bedroom, started to gather some things that Tony would need at Gibbs house then he noticed the box standing on a chair close to the bed.

Usually McGee didn't like to snoop around but the lid was off the box and the paper on top caught his eyes. He could see that it was birth certifikate, so he decided to take a closer look.

Strange, he thought as he read it: Michael Anthony DiNozzo. But Tony was named Anthony first he had seen it in the records.

Then he looked at the birth date and year. He just stared at it, if this was really Tony's birth certifcate; it meant that Tony was two years younger than himself!

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

AN: So here comes chapter 5. Thanks for all the reviews they really make my day!

Chapter 5

Tony was sitting in the passenger seat, his head leaning against the cool window while Gibbs drove the car towards his house.

The car were silent, Gibbs sneaked some peaks at Tony from time to time to make sure that the younger agent was alright.

He was worried about his senior field agent and he wondered why Tony had kept his bruises a secret and who had done it to him. It felt strange knowing that the younger agent was keeping secrets from him, secrets that had gotten him hurt and that made it worse because Gibbs hated seeing his people get hurt.

They pulled into the driveway that led to Gibbs house, the older man turned off the engine and for a couple a moments they just sat there quite and looking at the house.

"You okay?" Gibbs asked as he looked over at Tony.

"I'm fine." Tony said not looking at his boss.

The older man nodded to himself, got out of the car and walked over to the passenger side to help Tony.

The younger man watched thru the front window as his boss made his way over to his side and when Gibbs opened the door, he offered his hand to the younger man to help him.

Tony just looked at the hand, felt rather embarrassed and blushed but after a stern look from Gibbs he took it and let the man help him.

They made their way up and into the house; Gibbs helped the limping Tony into the big living room and motioned for him to sit down on the couch.

When Tony was sitting down Gibbs carefully arranged so the younger man's injured ankle so it was resting on a pillow on the coffee table and then walked into the kitchen to make some coffee.

Tony leaned back into the big and soft sofa and closed his eyes for a while but after a couple of minutes he heard the front door open. Ziva and McGee stepped inside and when they saw Tony in the living room, they joined him there.

"Thanks Probie." Tony said as McGee handed him a bag with clothes. McGee nodded to him and then sat down in an armchair across Tony and Ziva did the same.

McGee opened his mouth to say something but Gibbs walked into the room with four cups of coffee.

"What's going on, Tony?" Gibbs asked as he sat down and glared at the younger man.

Tony met Gibbs stare but looked away because of its intensity and he could he even feel it when he didn't looked at him.

The silence stretched as Tony thought about what to say, he couldn't tell them the truth and in a way he couldn't lie to them.

But he wasn't ready to talk about his past, yet.

"Oh for God's sake, spill it!" Ziva said annoyed but a hint of worry colored her voice.

"I can't." Tony said in a low voice as he looked away.

"Why not?" McGee asked leaning a little forward.

"Because… I can't…"

Gibbs opened his mouth to say that if Tony didn't start talking soon he would do something really bad but he was interrupted when his front door burst open and a big man stepped inside.

"Anybody home?!" The man yelled as he looked around, when he saw Gibbs and the others he walked into the living room. "There you are Jet! Nice to see you, old man!"

"Al." Gibbs said hiding his surprise and got up to greet the other man.

Tony, Ziva and McGee looked at each other, all of them stunned and with big eyes they watched the two men.

Al was a big man, almost a head taller than Gibbs, with dark hair that had a few grey hairs in it and light brown eyes, burly built.

"So, are you babysitting or something now a days?" Al asked as he looked at the three younger NCIS-agents.

"This is my team." Gibbs said ignoring the babysitter comment. "This is Tony, Ziva and McGee." Each of them shook hands with Al as their name was said.

"This is Al, an old friend." Was all Gibbs said as he presented Al.

"Yeah we go way back." Al said with a big smile.

Tony, Ziva and McGee looked at Al and Gibbs as they talked. All three were very curious on how Gibbs and Al had gotten to know each other but they knew better than to ask.

"So what brings you here?" Gibbs asked as they sat down.

"Work." Was Al short answer.

"So what are you working with?" Ziva dared to ask.

"I'm a P.I."

"Oh."

"I have to borrow your bathroom, Jet." Al said as he got up.

"You know where it is." Gibbs said and nodded to his old friend that walked away.

The NCIS team was quite until Al's back disappeared into the house, and then the three younger ones looked at Gibbs with small smiles.

"So. That was Al." Tony said grinning, as he felt that the focus was off him and onto this new situation. "An old friend."

"How long have you known Al?" Ziva asked mimicking Tony's playful tone.

"Don't you two start." Gibbs said glaring at his two agents. "I think that we need to have our discussion another time."

"Good thinking, boss." Tony said and started to get.

"Not so fast, DiNozzo. You are not yet of the hook." Gibbs said as he gently pushed Tony back on the sofa. "Until we have this conversation you are staying with me. No argument!"

Tony closed his half open mouth, crossed his arms over his chest and almost pouted under Gibbs hard glare. "McGee and David! I'll see you tomorrow."

Ziva and McGee jumped up at their names, sent Tony some looks that held concern and pity before making their way out of the house.

"What happened to the younglings?" Al asked as he stepped into the living room.

"Gibbs threw them out." Tony said a bit sourly.

"But you still need babysitting I see." Al said and smiled his big smile.

"I don't need any babysitting." Tony said knowing that he sounded childish but something with Al made him dislike Gibbs old friend.

"Tony got hurt during a case so I want to keep an eye on him so he doesn't get into more trouble." Gibbs said.

"So you are an accident prone?" Al said looking a little closer at Tony.

"No, not really." Tony said, trying not to be offended by Al's talk.

"Do you need a place to stay?" Gibbs asked Al.

"Yeah, if it's alright."

"You know it." Gibbs said, thinking over the sleeping arrangements. "If Tony takes the guest room with the television and you the other. You still don't watch that thing so much?"

"Sounds alright for me." Al snickered.

"I can stay down here, boss. Its okay and this sofa are pretty comfy." Tony said. Both guest rooms were on the top floor and he didn't feel up to hop up the stairs. The thought of looking like an idiot in front of the two older men by tumbling down the stairs or ask for help made him want to stay on the sofa.

"Don't be stupid. Al, grab that arm so we can help him up the stairs." Gibbs said as he carefully took Tony's arm that held those nasty bruises.

Not giving Tony must choice the two men hauled him up and the three men made their way up the stairs and into the guest room.

"Do you need anything else?" Gibbs asked Tony as the younger man sat down on the bed.

"No, thanks. I'm fine." Tony said feeling rather embarrassed.

"Keep that foot up high and I'll check on you later."

"Thanks, boss." Tony watched as the two men walked out of the room and downstairs. Then he laid down with a sigh and turned on the television

"So how's life treating you?" Gibbs and Al were sitting at the kitchen table with a few beers.

"Fairly good. Yours?"

"It's fine."

"You always had a way with words." Al and Gibbs kloncked their beer bottles at that. "Anyhow, I believe that I'm on a high roll now."

"This new case?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah, this dude wants to find this kid and if I do it I'll earn a big sum of money."

"Good for you." Gibbs took a swing from his beer and steered the conversation into old memories.

He didn't really like Al's choice of profession, there were a lot of good and honest Private investigators but Al wasn't one of them so he didn't want to get involved. His gut gave him that famous feeling that this case wasn't that legal.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Again thank you so much for all the reviews! I'm glad that you like it! So here comes chapter six, I know that the story is a little slow but I hope that it will pick up soon. Blame that evil plot bunny.

Chapter 6

The next day Gibbs and Tony arrived at the NCIS building together both with a cup of coffee in their hands. Tony was limping a little but didn't feel so much pain because Gibbs had forced him to take some aspirins yesterday and this morning.

The older man watched closely as the younger man made his way to his desk, he had done it all morning and trying to see if something else was wrong.

"You sure that you are alright?" Gibbs asked, frowning.

"I'm fine." Tony sighed, getting tired of that question. "Go to your morning meeting. I promise that I won't get into trouble."

Gibbs snorted at that comment, knowing that Tony could get into trouble anywhere anytime, and then he walked up the stairs to the Directors office. He had only left the bullpen when Ziva and McGee stepped out of the elevator.

"Oh, my. There is something you two aren't telling me." Tony said grinning at his co-workers. "You know that you can tell me about it…."

"What?" McGee asked confused as he walked to his desk.

"I noticed these things and you don't hide it very well, I might add." Tony winked at both of them. "You two arriving at Gibbs house _together_ and leaving _together_ yesterday. And now arriving to work _together_."

Both McGee and Ziva looked confused at Tony, then at each other and back to Tony who smiled big.

"Tony!" McGee almost shrieked as he blushed as he understood. "There is nothing going on between me and Ziva."

"Me and McGee?" Ziva said, looking at McGee with an appraising look. "Not my type, really."

"I was just thinking." Tony said smiling. "So what is your type, Zee-vah?"

Ziva sat down at her desk as she talked about her type and what was definitely not her type, McGee jumped in with what he thought a girl should have.

They were interrupted by an angry Gibbs made his way down the stairs. He told them that he was going to be tied up in meetings for the most of the day with the Director and other people that were high placed. So he gave them some things that they would work with and then he left, muttering something that the team knew that they didn't want to hear.

"Poor, little Tony." Ziva said in a playful tone as Gibbs left them.

"What do you mean?" Tony said looking up from his computer.

"He won't be happy after a whole day in meetings."

"So?"

"So, you are going home with him." Ziva said and she laughed at Tony's sour expression. They continued bickering for a while before getting back to work.

After lunch Ducky came up to the bullpen to get Tony so he could look over the young man's injuries. Tony tried to talk his way out of it but the old M.E. didn't fall for it. So a muttering Tony followed him down to the autopsy.

McGee saw the elevator doors close behind them then he looked over at Ziva, who was engrossed at the work on her screen and then he discreetly looked around before starting to tap on his computer.

He opened a program and typed in: Michael Anthony DiNozzo, the year and date of birth that had stood on the birth certificate that he had found at Tony's apartment. Then he hit enter.

McGee read thru the text that came up and he saw something that made him stare.

Michael Anthony DiNozzo had died, eleven years old in a car accident.

He leaned back in his chair still staring at the screen in front of him, thinking hard. McGee had been 13 years old when this boy died and according to Tony's file he would have been 15.

He knew that he probably should have left it at that but something made him wanting to dig deeper and so he did.

The boy had died in car-accident, the body hadn't been found but the police thought that it had burned because they had only found some badly burnt bones. Witnesses had place the boy and his mother in the car shortly before the car was hit and exploded shortly after.

So why would Tony have a dead boy's birth certificate in his room, the boy having the same names?

McGee read it twice before making hard decision; he looked around again before he started typing again.

This time he went into NCIS personnel filing system and scrolled down to Anthony Michael DiNozzo.

He looked at the name, wondering what was he doing because he felt that it was wrong but then he remembered Tony's bruises, thinking that next time it Tony wouldn't get out of this with a bunch of bruises so he clicked on the file.

McGee read thru his co-workers file twice as he realised that it really didn't say anything about Tony or his childhood. It held nothing about his parents or where he had grown up. It only held his previous employments and which collage he had attended to.

He wrote down the name of the collage, looked up as the elevator doors opened and saw Tony stepping out. Quickly he closed down the programs, trying not to look guilty as he looked closer at not so happy looking Tony.

"What did Ducky do to you?" Ziva asked as she saw Tony.

"Just poked and probed." Tony said as he sat down.

"Everything alright?" McGee asked, concerned.

"Yeah, just peachy."

"You only have yourself to blame." Ziva said walking to Tony's desk with her arms crossed over her chest.

"What?"

"If you just had told us that you were hurt, Gibbs wouldn't have let you help in on Hodgkin's case." Ziva said frustrated.

"I'm touched, Zee-vah but I'm only bruised not deathly injured." Tony said a bit annoyed, he wasn't made of glass but he was a bit touched that his team mates seemed to care about him.

He felt a bit bad for making them worry but he couldn't tell them about what had happened this weekend because if he did he had to tell them everything and _that_ he couldn't do.

Ziva continued trying to get him to talk but Tony stood his ground and after a while she turned back to her work.

A couple of hours later Gibbs came down the stairs and strode into the bullpen, looking really pissed off.

"Let's go home." Was all he said in a gruff voice as he grabbed his things.

The car were silent as Gibbs drove him and Tony home and he had somewhat calmed down when they exited the car. He walked beside the younger man in case that the younger man should falter because Tony was still limping.

When they came into the house, Gibbs told Tony to rest on the couch while he went to the kitchen to look into the fridge that was almost empty.

"I need to go to the store." Gibbs said. "Is there something special you want?"

"Nah, it's okay." Tony said standing up. "I'm going to grab a shower."

"Be careful."

Tony rolled his eyes and earned a light head slap from his boss. The younger man smiled as he watched Gibbs reatreating back glad that things were slowly getting back to normal.

He made his way into the bathroom, stripped out of his clothes and got into the shower. He let out a sigh as he felt the water run down his sore body and he stood there for a while but his injured ankle started to hurt, forcing him out of the shower earlier than he really wanted.

Putting some old sweat pants and a thin but long sleeved shirt on, then he made his way slowly down to the living room.

Tony sat down on the sofa, arranged his ankle like Gibbs had done yesterday and turned on the television. After a while he dozed off.

* * *

Al walked up the path to Gibbs house but before he walked in he took a few deep drags of his cigarette, put it out and took a swing from the small flask he had in his inner pocket.

He swallowed, looked at the flask and took another swing before he opened the door and stepped in.

Inside he noticed Tony lying on the sofa, his eyes closed and his breathing even. Al stepped a little closer and studied the younger man.

The kid looked far too young to be working at NCIS from his point of view, all the three members of Jet's team looked to young and yesterday Al had noticed Tony's designer clothes and shoes. The kid had looked like a model, to pretty to work at the same place as Jet, not at all looking like a marine or army.

Al loathed rich and young kids that climbed up the work ladder to fast, stepping over hard working older people such as him. They got everything served on silver platters.

He himself had worked hard all his life to get to where he was now, he joined the military very young and there he met Jet.

That had been good times, he, Jet and their company fighting against the world. Al spaced a little as he thought back to those times.

* * *

Tony was half-asleep on the sofa when suddenly he got a feeling that someone was watching him and that made him wake up.

He looked up and saw Al standing in the doorway that led into the living room, the man looked a little absent minded and his eyes were unfocused.

Tony shifted in the sofa as he kept his eyes on Al who at the small movement became instantly alert and eyes focusing on the younger man.

"Hi, Al." Tony said trying to hold back a shiver as Al's wild eyes stared at him. "You alright?"

"Yeah." Al said in a curt voice, and then he leaned against the door frame. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Okay." Tony said as an uneasy feeling crept into his stomach.

"How could you afford those designer clothes on your pay check? Have a rich daddy don't you?" The distaste in the older man's voice was clear.

"I don't think it's any of your business." Tony said feeling irritated over Al's tone and question.

"Well aren't we snippy?" Al said as he made his way to the sofa and sat down on the coffee table next to Tony's injured ankle.

Tony fought back the instinct to pull away his foot and tried to relax. When Al leaned forward, their faces pretty close.

"You think that you are all that just because you grew up rich and carefree." Al said staring into the younger man's green eyes.

Tony could smell alcohol on Al's bad breath, almost making him gag but the hard and cold stare from those wild brown eyes made him shrink and swallow hard, he had always wondered were Gibbs had learned his death glare and he thought that the teacher was in front of him.

The front door opened and Al leaned back, fast like snake, as Gibbs stepped inside and Tony was really glad to see his boss.

Gibbs stepped into the living room carrying two grocery bags, he looked at Al and Tony feeling that he had missed something but before he said something Al got up and walked over to him, grabbing a bag.

"Let's make some dinner." Al said heading into the kitchen.

* * *

Gibbs and Al were sitting at the dinner table alone, Tony had went to his guest room almost imidietly after dinner saying something about being tired.

The comment mad Gibbs a bit worried so he moved to check up on his agent but was stopped by Al.

"Let him be." Al said handing Gibbs a beer bottle. "You can't keep babying him; he just probably tired after a hard day filled with paper pushing."

Gibbs heard the sarcastic undertone in his friend's voice as he looked over to him and sat down across him.

"Resentful much?"

"Nah, but I can't understand why you keep a kid like him around."

"Al, don't start that shit. You don't know him."

"Maybe not but I know his kind." Al said slurring a bit as he took deep swing from his bottle. "I bet that he never have fought for his life before starting to work for you."

"You have had too much to drink, AL." Gibbs said gruffly as he stood up. Gibbs turned his back and walked to his basement, leaving Al in the kitchen by himself but before he said over his shoulder. "Go and sleep it off."

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

AN: I promise you all that the action soon will start, I hope that you will bare with me. Again big thanks SO much for all the reviews... Keep them coming.. ;)

Chapter 7

The next morning Gibbs was sitting at the kitchen table with a big cup of coffee and was reading the newspaper.

It was still rather early; he wouldn't wake Tony in another two hours. He had checked upon his senior field agent before he went to bed last night and Tony who was sprawled all over the bed was sleeping hard.

Gibbs watched the younger man from the doorway and some of Al's words came back to him and was going round in his head.

Was he babying Tony? Yeah, maybe a little but that was only because he was still feeling rather guilty over that Tony had gotten hurt during Hodgkins' case and something was defiantly going on in the young man's life.

So back to the real questions that bothered him:

How had Tony gotten those bruises? Were had he been this weekend? And why wouldn't he tell them about it?

Maybe he would go to Abby and ask her to do a check up on Tony's credit, see if the young man had bought a plane ticket or something like that.

Gibbs was still thinking about that as he sipped on his coffee when Al walked into the kitchen. The big burly man nodded to Gibbs, poured himself some coffee and sat down across him.

"Sorry about last night." Al said sipping on his coffee. "They become younger as I grow older."

"Yeah." Gibbs nodded; he could understand Al's feelings especially when he thought back to those times when McGee tried to explain about his gadgets. "How's your case going?"

"Forward. I found some information." Al said leaning back into the chair. "Going to check upon it today..."

They started to talk about other things, a quite understanding between the two men that Gibbs had forgiven him but wouldn't tolerate if Al said something like that again.

* * *

When Gibbs went to wake up Tony, the younger man was already sitting up on the bed trying to wrap his injured ankle. The older man walked over.

"Let me help you."

"Thanks." Tony said as he looked thru the window as his boss kneeled in front of him and started to wrap his ankle. His thoughts wandered as he tried to ignore the pain.

"You know that you can talk to me about anything..." Gibbs said as he wrapped the ankle as gently and careful as he could. He kept his eyes on it but could feel Tony's eyes on him. "I'm always going to watch your six."

"I..." Tony opened his mouth but shut it again as memories assaulted him. His mother smiling, her not smiling when he told her about what he had seen, then the crash and heat so hot he thought he would burn.

He opened his eyes, he had shut them without knowing it and he looked down at his boss. He couldn't tell Gibbs about it, if his boss didn't know he wouldn't be hurt we they found him.

Gibbs finished with the wrapping, he could see the inner turmoil inside Tony and he laid a hand on the young man's knee.

"It's alright; we can talk about it when you are ready."

"Thanks." Tony mumbled.

"Let's grab some breakfast before we go to work."

* * *

Tony felt a little better as he and Gibbs stepped into the bullpen, his ankle didn't hurt so much and he had put the conversation with Al deep in his mind so he wouldn't think about it.

This morning Ziva and McGee didn't arrive together, Ziva came first and then a tired looking McGee came into the bullpen.

"Did you stay up all night killing those little elves, Probie?" Tony asked him and looked over to Ziva who joined him with a smile.

"No, I didn't." McGee mumbled as he sat down at his desk. Actually he had been up almost the whole night feeling bad for going behind Tony's back and snooping thru the other man's past.

He had called Tony's collage when he had come home but they only had told him which high school Tony had attended. They wouldn't leave him any other information about family or such.

But they did say that Tony had graduated at the top of his class and that he had been there on a scholarship.

McGee would try to contact the high school today and he felt bad about it but at the same time he couldn't stop.

"The world calling the elf lord!" Tony said as he threw a paper ball hitting McGee in the face.

"Uhm, what?" McGee asked.

"You were just sitting there staring at Tony." Ziva said with a smile. "Maybe you are fond of Tony?"

"What?" McGee looked confused but turned red when he understood what Ziva was implying. "No! I... Uhm... I..."

"Take it easy, Tim. I was only yanking your rope." Ziva said.

"Chain, Ziva. You were yanking his chain." Tony said as he shook his head.

"Stop bickering." Gibbs growled, hiding a smile when all of his three agents jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Ah, boss." Tony said with a wide smile. "You can join us if you feel left out."

Gibbs head slapped him lightly before turning to his desk and sat down barely hiding his smile.

* * *

Gibbs was standing by the coffee maker in the break room when McGee walked in. The younger man stopped, watched his boss' back and shifted from one foot to the other.

"Something you want, McGee?" Gibbs asked turning around, is voice making the other agent jump.

"I... Uhm... Just..." McGee stuttered.

"Out with it." Gibbs leaned against the counter and looked into McGee's eyes.

"I was just wondering... If you had talked to Tony? About his bruises, I mean."

"Not yet." Gibbs could see the concern in the other mans eyes. "Al is still at my place and as long as we are keeping our eyes on Tony I think it will be alright."

McGee nodded, met his boss' clear blue eyes wondering if he should tell Gibbs about his findings but decided not to because he hadn't really found out something, yet.

* * *

Tony and Gibbs stepped into the older man's house when Gibbs cell phone started to ring.

"Gibbs."

"Hi Jet!" It was Al. "I'm going to be late so if you could save some dinner for me, I would appreciate it."

"I'll do so." Gibbs said hanging up the phone. "Looks like it's only going to be us two tonight."

"Okay." Tony said trying to keep his relief out of his voice. He followed Gibbs into the kitchen to help making dinner but was told to go and rest on the couch.

* * *

McGee was sitting in front of his computer screen and looked at the information he had written on it. He opened a new document and wrote two columns, one with the headline:

Anthony Michael DiNozzo

and the second:

Michael Anthony DiNozzo

He looked a while at the two names before starting to type what he knew under each name.

* * *

The next day was Friday and they would be free from work this weekend. No cases turned up so Gibbs let his team go home early.

He had talked to Tony, telling the younger man that he wanted him to stay the weekend and after Tony had agreed to it after some persuasion.

When they arrived back at the house, Al was sitting outside on the porch and was smoking a cigarette. He greeted the two NCIS- agents with a nod.

"I'm going inside, to borrow your bath tub boss. " Tony said wanting to be around Al as little as possible.

Gibbs nodded to him, watched him go and sat down beside Al.

"Got any breaks on the case yet?"

"Yeah, got a hold of the kids address and went over there last night but he wasn't home." Al said and he took a deep drag of his cigarette before he continued to talk. "I asked the portiere and he told me that he hadn't seen the kid for a couple of days. I gave him a tip and he told me that he would call me when he saw him."

"Okay." Gibbs said and they sat there on the porch a while longer.

TBC


End file.
